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To: River_Wrangler
When seconds count you cannot wait for someone to come on the bridge, acquire situational awareness and make a judgement call to tell a group of sailors to turn the helm and reverse one or more throttles.

But that's not how it is supposed to work. The OOD is always on the deck already, and is supposed to have situational awareness at all times. And the size of some of those ships, coupled with the complexity of some of the propulsion systems, would make it impossible for a single person to maintain adequate 360 degree visibility, much less operate all the radios, helm, etc..

What works on a small commercial vessel that doesn't have military responsibility doesn't work on military vessels. These type of collisions are extraordinarily rare -- this recent flurry is a huge anomaly that doesn't mean that the entire method of commanding Naval vessels (not just in our Navy but in all of them) is flawed.

35 posted on 08/23/2017 8:39:03 AM PDT by Bruce Campbells Chin
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To: Bruce Campbells Chin
What works on a small commercial vessel that doesn't have military responsibility doesn't work on military vessels.

Commercial ships are not necessarily small. Many are 3 to 4 times the size of the warship in question. When you operate a 260 foot tow/supply vessel with a rig or work barge 1200 feet behind with 100's of lives on it certainly requires attention. A military ship has a much larger crew in order to fight the ship. Something I have never had to do. I have been able to safely operate complex vessels in all weather and traffic conditions for many years with much smaller crews. Much different mind set.

36 posted on 08/23/2017 8:57:09 AM PDT by River_Wrangler (Nothing difficult is ever easy!)
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